


The Esoteric Enterprise

by Harrysboots4ever



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Includes spoilers for FF13 and FF14, Inspired by The Rigel Black Chronicles, no beta we die like Caerry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:22:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29829027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harrysboots4ever/pseuds/Harrysboots4ever
Summary: My take on Book 5.
Comments: 22
Kudos: 92





	1. Chapter 1

Archie’s birthday on August 3 was a surprising affair.

Sirius’s birthday had been celebrated with a quiet family dinner at the Potter residence after which Sirius had insisted on taking Archie on a flying motorcycle driving lesson. Remus and Lily eventually convinced Sirius to only show Archie how to ride the bike on the ground. Sirius had insisted that Harry learn too (so that she could teach potential boyfriends how to ride a motorcycles when the time came). Neither of them had gotten the hang of it, the bike had fallen on Archie and Harry had crashed into a shrub. 

James, who remarked without looking in the direction of the contraband bike, that he had an urgent report he needed to finish, had simply gone to his office and not surfaced until the now dented motorcycle had been carefully put away. Harry supposed a flying motorcycle was the sort of thing that Percy’s father at the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office would be fascinated with but reluctantly have to confiscate for destruction anyway.

Without saying anything to her, in July Lily and James and had decided that it was time to force Harry and Archie into some independence from each other. Or at the very least prevent future schemes. Harry had noticed that her time with Archie was being capped at half an hour after which Lily or James would call Archie away. She supposed that her parents had decided that the best way to prevent a revolution would be to separate them. After the first few times of being sent to do chores, Archie had started avoiding Potter Place. She hadn’t seen him since her birthday, unusual for cousins who grown used to seeing each other at least at dinner every day during the summer.

Harriett had however seen a lot of her little sister- it was amazing how frequently Lily Potter now needed a babysitter. Addy was becoming quite happy about being able to boss her older sister around. Harry had gotten almost used to the weight of Addy on her shoulders everywhere she went.

Harry had been told she would have her own birthday celebration and that she could choose a family activity. She didn’t have any friends she could invite other that Archie so she had decided to do something she had always wanted to do but Archie would never have agreed to.

Having her own birthday instead of a shared one hadn’t been terrible, she reflected. She had asked to go to a magical menagerie and then go for ice cream. James had looked so incredibly pleased about this childish request that she had felt almost guilty. She had noticed that everyone had avoiding giving her any potions related products for her birthday. Noting her shambles of a wardrobe her presents had been an assortment of new clothing including several pairs of formal robes which quietly concerned her-where exactly did they think she would be going to in dress robes? She’d only left the house four times all summer. New boots though, those had been exciting. 

Sirius had then blind-sided them all with the news that Archie was going to have a pool party at 12 Grimmauld Place.

She supposed it made sense. Archie had been gone the previous birthday, volunteering in the Dorian Gap and Sirius was determined to make it up to him.

It was still a bit of a shock though visiting the house where she had spent a lot of her early childhood and see that it had been dramatically changed yet again. 

Now that he had a son firmly aligned with the Light, Sirius had redecorated his family home. Gone were the green and silver colours, the house was now white and full of light, all skillfully enchanted to look natural. Windows had been expanded to picture sized and skylights were cut in the ceilings.

Pictures of Archie, wearing his own face were hung around the foyer. It was a bit shocking, almost all of the pictures had been taken in less than three months. Archies smiled at her, winked roguishly at her and snored at her from various frames. One Archie had even transfigured himself into a fox and was chasing his own tail.

The pictures in the hallway showed an eleven-year-old Archie posing with his father back to back in marching motorcycle jackets and identical expressions, a ten-year-old Archie smiling as he was presented with a ribbon at the closing ceremonies at the local junior Quidditch League and a nine-year-old Archie waving from the top of a tree. There were a series of pictures of Archie at various sizes, missing various teeth. 

She winced. Not a single reminder of the time from when she and Archie had started school until the beginning of the summer. Four years of memories based on lies that Sirius clearly didn’t want to be reminded of.

Harry had been a bit worried for the snakes but Sirius hadn’t been able to part with them. They’d been transfigured gold and Sirius had carefully accessorized each one with a festive party hat. She poked at one and the hat did not budge. Probably a sticking charm. It honestly seemed a bit cruel but she supposed Sirius had thrown them in the pool two years ago so cruelty was rather relative. 

She headed down to the potions lab that had permanently become a pool with Addy toddling beside her. In contrast to the enchanted ceilings in the rest of the house the potions lab ceiling was a night sky. Harriett remembered reading on the invitation that the birthday theme was “Light’s Out Luau” whatever that meant.

Addy was wearing a bright blue bath suit with pictures of dragons and enchanted water wings. Harry had left her shorts on top of her swimsuit and worn an old AIM sweatshirt of Archie’s for good measure. She wasn’t comfortable enough with her new appearance for a swimsuit just yet.

Lily, Sirius, Remus and James were already in the adult pool when they arrived. Harry looked around for Archie and sighed. Odds are he was planning on making a very dramatic birthday boy entrance a bit later. Addy immediately noticed that Sirius had charmed a kiddie wading pool for her complete with a very short water slide. She bopped enthusiastically at Harry who removed both of their shoes and picked her up, carrying her over to the wading pool.

“Weee!” yelled Addy as she went down the slide and into Harry’s arms. Harry, who was knee deep in the warm water, reached down to hand her a toy watering can and a bucket.

“There you are!” Archie came in to the pool room. Harry smiled at him. Archie was wearing gold swimming trunks. He had started to grow out his hair and even with it at an in-between stage of length looked incredibly handsome. “Natural hair is better than magical hair,” he had tutted at her when she had sped up the growth of her own hair.

“Is Hermione here yet?” Harry asked curiously. Archie just smiled at her. 

“She’s just looking at the library. Dad thinks he’s sorted out everything really nasty in there but I better go back and check on her.”

Harry doubted that there could be anything there that Archie was more equipped to handle than Hermione. Archie probably just wanted some alone time with his friend.

“I’d go with you just to say hello but...” she nodded in the direction of Addy who was attempting to carry all the water toys at the same time and on the verge of tears of being only able to manage two or three without dropping the rest.

Archie winked at her and ran off, clearly not willing to miss a minute with Hermione even if it meant he was at the library and not his own birthday party.

She rolled her eyes.

Leave it to Sirius to throw a party for someone who didn’t want one.

Fireworks stared to go of overhead spelling Archie’s name in bright gold letters.

Remus came to watch her and Addy. She had placed Addy on an inflated raft and was towing her around the pool as Addy pointed and yelled instructions. “Well this is a change from the last time we were all here together.”

Harry smiled at him. “Well Addy is here and Hermione apparently. And Archie and I have different faces of course.”

Neither of them laughed. Harry supposed it wasn’t much of a joke.

“That duelling display from the last task of the tournament was a bit familiar I thought,” Remus said casually.

Harry was getting used to these kinds of comments from Remus. She knew he didn’t expect her to trip up but perhaps he was waiting for her to come clean on her own. “I’m sorry I missed it. I didn’t really leave the apartment unless I had to. Too many risks.”

Remus eyed her suspiciously. It was going to be a while before he looked at her any other way.

“Feeling ready for your OWLs tomorrow?”

Harry nodded. She had chosen to write five as that was the most she could write in one day.

“And your NEWTs?” Harry had asked for special permission to be tentatively scheduled for her NEWTs the that same week, pending the successful completion of her OWLs.

Remus eyed her oddly. “It would be strange I suppose to write exams in person when you haven’t done them before.”

Harry considered this. “Well my correspondence class had exams though it was a bit different. And my potions internship had in class challenges and on the spot questioning. So I’d imagine it wouldn’t be too shocking.”

She was hoping he would leave at this point but he sat down on the edge of the pool dangling his feet into the shallow water and gestured for her to sit next to him.

“You know, if you found yourself in some trouble, I hope you’d feel like you could talk to me,” he told her.

It was a bit of an odd thing to hear she thought in this ruined potions lab in a house that had been recently scoured of all memories of Rigel and all things Slytherin. She wondered if the irony was lost on Remus.

Harry smiled at him. “Thank you, Uncle.”

She eyed Addy attempting to go down the slide head first. “I better be getting back  
to my sister though.”

They didn’t see Archie again or Hermione until dinner.

Hermione was as Harry had remembered her. Full of nervous energy and frizzy hair. She supposed in some ways the girl was her friend but it felt awkward to try and share her with Archie, especially on his birthday. She settled herself as far away from them as possible. Addy who had asked for and then received a comically large piece of cake from Sirius would not doubt keep her busy.

Sirius looked absolutely delighted that Hermione was there- the first friend that either Harry or Archie had every had at a birthday aside from each other. Harry tried not to take his delight too hard, well obviously Sirius would be pleased that Archie had a friend. Plus, Sirius had used Hermione’s visit as an excuse to rid the house of even more family heirlooms and he was positively gleeful talking about some of the horrible portraits he had burned.

At the other end of the table Hermione was excitedly talking to Lily about her work on the Fade and her very impressive end of year exam scores.

Archie and Sirius would be leaving early for America to sort out his return to AIM. Sirius had been loudly announcing for days that he planned to give Archie a red convertible and for them to take a road trip together. She wondered if America would ever be the same again after they were through with it. She also doubted that Sirius had a driver’s license anywhere in the world. Archie certainly didn’t. 

“And how did you manage to convince them to take you back?” Hermione was asking Archie. “I of course had everyone write letters in support of you being allowed to return but the only response we got was that if was a private administrative matter.”

Sirius laughed. “Well it didn’t come cheaply. You’ll notice when you return that the Healing Library has been expanded and renovated when you get back to AIM Hermione.”

Hermione looked positively scandalized. “You bought Archie’s way back into AIM?”

Archie could see that the conversation was heading in an unpleasant direction and pivoted. “I’ll be writing my placement exams to see if I can return to fifth year in two weeks. I’d love to look at your exam review notes.”

And Hermione was off explaining her note taking system that involved different colours and something called Post-its. Harry could see Addy starting to yawn into her second piece of cake. As good an excuse as any to leave before presents were opened. She picked up her sister, waved at her parents and headed towards the floo. Archie didn’t notice.

It was a few hours later when she woke up to a loud poke in her side. Instinctively she reached out with her magic, “Argh Harry, it’s me.”

She allowed her magic to slowly come back to her. “Archie?”

“Yes you fat-head.”

Archie jumped into bed with her. She sighed. Only Archie would wake her up on the day she was writing her OWLs. He probably had completely forgotten about her exams with all the excitement of Hemione’s visit. 

“What is it Archie?”

“Hermione went home. It was a bit of a long shot trying to convince her to stay the week because she had said she wouldn’t but I had thought she would at least want to sleep over. She wasn’t happy about the donation I think.”

Harry sighed. “Have you tried doing something to make amends for what you did?”

Archie paused. “Well I was fined-”

“Sirius paid the fine.”

“I was arrested and put in custody.”

“For about an hour.”

“I have to write my exams again.”

“You didn’t write them the last time. And Sirius is buying you a car once you get to America.”

Archie paused. “Well when you put it like that it doesn’t sound too good. What I need is a grand gesture. Why don’t you help me come up with something-”

Harry hit him with her pillow. “You can stay if you go to sleep. I have my exams tomorrow remember? And unlike some people my Dad won’t donate a library for me.”

Archie laughs before settling down to sleep.

OWLs were easy, almost to the point of being comforting. Harriett spent her morning completing enchanted booklet after enchanted booklet. There was a short break for lunch during which time she wasn’t allowed to leave the room and then she was back at it again. When James came to pick her up, still in his work robes she smiled at him earnestly. 

“I really enjoyed that.”

He nodded at her. “Back tomorrow morning?” She nodded. All the practical exams were the following day. James patted her on the shoulder. 

“I’m proud of you Fawn, I hope you know that. There’s not many students that could study by themselves for four years and come out of it a year ahead if not three.”

Harry thought she could almost hear pride in his voice. “You know, I think you can watch the practical exams if you like,” she offered hesitantly.

James paused thoughtfully. Harry remembered something Remus had said about her magic appearing similar to Rigel’s and wondered if James maybe just didn’t want to see her magic in action.

He patted her head. “Maybe your NEWTs.”

She nodded but wasn’t counting on it.

Harriett’s practical exams the following day moved quickly. She was pleased to see Ms. Marchbanks again though she supposed that Ms. Marchbanks barely knew her as Harry.

She demonstrated a perfect switching spell for Transfiguration, a summoning charm for Charms and a Bombarda spell and the Impediment Jinx for Defence. For Herbology she labelled and demonstrated repotting techniques for a table of unidentified plants. She had asked to complete her Potions practical last and finished her exams triumphantly with a beautiful Deflating Drought and a Pepper up potion.

Ms. Marchbanks invited her for a pot of tea after her exams. Harry had finished a full hour early but was hesitant. She had been told very clearly to stay put by James Potter. Senseing her hesitation Ms. Marchbanks laughed at her.

“I know both your parents Ms. Potter. I was there for your Father’s practical OWL exams and while he did manage seven OWLs he certainly didn’t manage it less than a week after turning 15.”

Harry smiled ruefully at her. “I would have taken a few more exams but I also wanted to take my NEWTs on Thursday.”

Ms. Marchbanks patted her on the shoulder. “Tea in my office then. We will have you back here before Lord Potter even notices you are gone.”

They step into a small office. Ms. Marchbanks conjures up a teapot and two cups.

Harry accepts one and sips her liquorice tea quietly.

Ms. Marchbanks eyes her with a curious smile. “You’ve done remarkably well Ms. Potter. I don’t think we expected any less of you but your work was thorough and confident. I can’t give you your results yet but I’m sure you won’t be surprised to receive our owl confirming that you can take your NEWTs on Thursday.”

Harry murmurs thanks into her cup. “I only needed the two exams for a Potions Mastery so it’s just Herbology and Potions on Thursday.”

Ms. Marchbanks sighed at her. “I wish you would reconsider. We could schedule you at least for Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts on Friday.”

Harry smiled at her. She has no intention of displaying advanced skills across a wide range of subjects.

“I don’t know that I would be ready for those two exams,” she says quietly. “I was thinking I would just do the two I need to continue to study Potions and then take correspondence classes for anything else I might be interested in.”

Ms. Marchbanks beams at her. “I didn’t doubt that you were a sensible young lady. Not even after that incident with the Rigel Black Child.”

She sighs at Harry. “It can be easy to get caught up in mischief at your age, especially when young men are involved. I’m glad that you stayed away from all of that foolishness and focused on your studies these last few years.”

Harry crosses her legs at her ankles and smiles sweetly at her. She was looking forward to coming back on Thursday for her last four exams.

No one is surprised by the owl that arrives on Sunday declaring that Harry has successfully completed five OWLs as well as two NEWTs with Outstandings.

Her parents had a lurid pink and green cake ready to go and invited the family for dinner.

As Sirius puts it, her accomplishment manages to be both exceptional and hopelessly mediocre at the same time. Sirius, James and Remus had all managed significantly more OWLs and NEWTs but then again they had been older and had the benefit of attending school.

As the dinner conversation turns to Archie and Sirius who would be leaving for America first thing the following morning. Harry wonders what’s in store for her. She doesn’t need to attend school and she’s barely been allowed to leave the house. Addy would be starting a nursery school in the mornings in September so she wouldn’t be needed to provide as much childcare.

She tries to raise the subject with her mother once everyone else has gone home. Lily only similes, “Your father has something planned for you. It’s a surprise.”

That sounds truly terrible. 

Monday morning Harry wakes up to a bucket of cold water dumping itself on her head.

James is beaming at her from the doorway. “Get up Fawn, I’ve found you a job at the office.” 

Harry groans and pulls the wet blankets over her head.


	2. Chapter 2

The Auror Office is part of The Department of Magical Law Enforcement which is located on the second floor of the Ministry of Magic.

Harry had not been eager to go to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She’d encountered too many Aurors as Rigel; Dawlish, Moody and a whole class of trainees had seen her in action. Dawlish had even taught her for the better part of a year. Someone was going to notice something, ask an unfortunate question or make a not so random connection.

However, she couldn’t think of a single reason not to put on her new brewing robes and follow James to work. The man was just so cheerful for once. He was whistling. An enormous weight had clearly been looming over him all summer and it seemed as though it has finally lifted. 

James, as Head Auror and as someone under constant siege from the media over the lack of updates as to the whereabouts of the Rigel Black Child and the potential new Dark Lord calling himself Voldemort, has his own floo entrance.

Harry followed her dad around the Department of Law Enforcement. She was fairly convinced he was making a point of showing her off to as many people as possible as "his daughter who passed her NEWTs last week." She noticed that James never mentioned that she had only two NEWTs (technically the bare minimum one could have and still claim to have NEWTs).

She had taken great pains to wear her fanciest new set of brewing robes (who knew that brewing robes came in colours, let alone embroidered lavender), and a large hair ribbon she had stolen from her sister. The hope was that she would project an image of youth, nepotism and harmlessness.

James steers her over to an office labelled Master Grindel. Harry's eyes narrow. She's certainly familiar with Master Grindel's occupation but he doesn't publish publicly and she suspects it's because he doesn't do any research or innovate, not because his work is classified for an interesting reason. She has absolutely no interest in whatever this job is.

James looks incredibly triumphant. For a brief moment Harry considers letting him down gently and making a run for it and then she decides to let him be happy at least for today. 

"I knew you would be looking for a potions opportunity and I thought this would be as good a place to start as any. Master Grindel keeps us supplied with potions like Polyjuice Potion and healing potions. So I pulled a few strings and now you're assisting him for the next four weeks. Maybe we can turn this into something permanent if it works out."

Harry winces. Four weeks of being under the constant watchful eye of James and a hundred aurors all to brew potions she had been brewing since she was twelve?"

But this seems to mean a lot to her Father. Four weeks of boredom doesn't seem like a lot considering how much he has aged in the last few weeks. Plus, this will get her out of the house and maybe access to some interesting ingredients and equipment. Harry beams up at him. 

"Thank you, Dad."

James knocks on the door. A stressed looking middle aged man pops his head out.

"Yes?"

James pushes Harriett forward. 

"Grindel, this is my daughter Harriet. I’ve told you about her before. Just completed her NEWTs last week. All Outstandings."

Harry tries to smile as sweetly as she is capable of smiling. "Both of them were Outstandings. Potions and Herbology." She doesn’t want anyone to think that she’s too smart. 

Master Grindel nods at her and lets her into his lab. He clearly realizes that he has absolutely no say in whether or not he is getting a new assistant and that he is now stuck with Harriett.

Master Grindel turns out to be a perfectly competent if by the book Potions Master. His lab is clean and highly organized. Rather than let Harriett immediately start brewing he takes her to Human Resources to complete paperwork and receive a Ministry of Magic ID Card. 

Harry marvels at it. They just hand these out? She wonders what sort of trouble Leo could get up to with this. 

Master Grindel sets her up at a work station with a cauldron and instructions to brew an Antidote to Common Poisons and resumes his own brewing. 

Harry can tell he’s working on a batch of Veretiserum antidote. Not particularly interesting.

Harry sighs at her own almost equally dull work. This in a third year potion. It might be necessary for Auror field kits but that doesn’t make it exciting. She reviews the recipe quickly in Magical Drafts and Potions and gathers her ingredients. 

Master Grindel comes by to inspect the work at the forty-minute mark, just before the potion reaches it’s second stage. Harry is more amused than offended, the poor man is probably a bit concerned that she’s either going to vanish or blow herself up. 

He nods his approval and lets her go back to work. 

Harriett does not like the second part of the recipe. Her instincts lead her to honeywater, stewed mandrake and essence of lavender so she incorporates those ingredients and ignores that the recipe calls for unicorn horns and mistletoe berries.

Harriett is careful to note her ingredient changes on the labels as she bottles her potions in clear crisp writing. 

Master Grindel comes by to inspect her work and doesn’t comment on the substitution. He takes the potions away to be used for field kids and assigns her a more complicated and time-consuming tissue repairing potion to work on. 

When it reaches noon he tells Harry to go ahead and leave for an hour. Harry is deeply suspicious that all manner of trouble will be the result of her not being exactly where James Potter left her and stays put. 

Her potion is also at a volatile stage and needs her supervision. 

Harry is distilling murtlap tentacles when the laboratory door opens suddenly and a light blasts towards her. Her magic instinctively reaches out to block it. 

_Well that certainly isn’t good._

Dawlish walks in laughing.

Harry freezes. She reminds herself that she can’t apparate out of the Ministry and besides, that would certainly look suspicious. She isn’t sure what exactly Professor Dawlish knows or what he’s guessed. It can’t be a coincidence though that he’s fired the same stinging hex at her that he used to fire at Draco every other week during Defence Against the Dark Arts classes. She puts her hand on her hip and glares at him in her best impression of Daphne Greengrass.

“Do you just like attacking defenceless teenaged girls?”

Dawlish laughs again. He hands a flask labelled _Antidote to Common Poisons_ potion to her. Then flask still bears her handwritten label. 

“Is there a problem with the potion?” Harry asks mildly offended. Her potion was perfection thought she supposes perhaps there’s an allergy issue that has led to the use of the more standard recipe. Maybe she should have brewed a batch of each version of the recipe?

“Catch.”

Harry looks at a worn volume that Dawlish tosses at her. She recognizes it as the copy of James Potter’s Auror’s Field Guide that he had given to her a few months ago. 

She flips it open and looks at the handwritten suggestions and slightly impertinent comments in the margins. 

_Handwritten notes._ Writing them had seemed a lot funnier at the time.

She looks at the letters on the flask and the letters in the book. They’re an obviously match.

Harry stares at Auror Dawlish with wide and hopefully innocent looking eyes. 

“This is my handwriting but I’ve never seen this book before. Is this a joke?”

He simply laughs at her. “It’s good seeing you. Consider that stinging jinx as a payback for the Banishing Charm.”

“I have no idea what you mean.” 

Harry goes back to her potion. It doesn’t seem as though he wants anything or that he’s going to talk to her father and she would like him to leave. 

Auror Dawlish nods at the book. “I’d burn that if I was you. Try and not get into too much trouble then.” 

“I don’t go looking for trouble, trouble usually finds me.”

Dawlish laughs again and walks off. 

Harry sighs. This is just as terrible as she thought it was going to be. She puts the incriminating book carefully into her new potions bag and focuses on the potion. She’s bastardized the recipe that she was given in an attempt to limit the exhaustion that usually comes after taking a tissue-repairing potion and the recipe now has an extra but fairly slow stage where she has to watch it simmer. 

James Potter walks in with a paper bag. “Fawn.” 

_What now?_ Harry wonders.

“I heard you brewed a perfect Antidote to Common Poisons this morning.” 

James looks at her proudly, as though brewing a very basis potion under supervision is something worth being proud of. She feels a bit like this is nursery school and she’s being congratulated for cutting with scissors.

Harry is vaguely concerned that he is going to take a picture of her first day at work to frame in their entrance way. Sirius is bad influence.

“I thought we would go out for lunch but then I thought I probably wouldn’t be able to tear you away from your cauldron.” He hands her a wrapped sandwich. 

Harry opens it and looks at it with some confusion. She doesn’t know much about cooking but this doesn’t seem like a reasonable combination. 

“Chicken and waffles?” 

James shrugs. “I told them to surprise me.” He inspects his own sandwich which appears to be the unlikely combination of bacon, peanut butter and bananas. 

Harry considers that this is probably as good an opportunity to ask as any. 

“I was thinking the Department could sponsor my application for a license to brew restricted potions for Ministry use.”

James looks at her a bit suspiciously but keeps chewing. 

“Not that there’s anything wrong with what I’m doing here but I could do a lot more.” James still looks suspicious. 

“And the brewing would of course be here under supervision. And the potions would stay here.” 

James nods at her. “I’ll think it over.”

Harry beams at him. “Thanks Dad.”


End file.
